Ask kids in the Bowling Green area their favorite spot to get ice cream and you might hear a story about Miss Glimmer, a famous Jersey cow who called Chaney’s Dairy Barn home for years. Miss Glimmer witnessed first-hand the transformation of the business owned by Carl and Debra Chaney from dairy farm to booming agritourism destination where over 300,000 people visit each year. The Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development was right there with her.
Carl and Debra took over the family farm in 1988 from Carl’s parents. Like many small dairy farms, the Chaney’s realized in 2001 that they would need to do more than milk cows to survive. Carl began looking at how other dairies were expanding and processing their milk when he noticed many of the farms were focusing more on ice cream than the processed milk.
A local cooperative extension agent, Becky Nash, invited Carl and Debra to a cheese summit in her county, Taylor County. A good friend of the Chaney’s from the American Jersey Association in Massachusetts had also begun processing their own milk. Carl and Debra went to visit, see how their operation worked, and asked lots of questions. From these events, their vision of what they wanted for Chaney's Dairy Barn began to develop.
During this same time, they attended a meeting where KCARD was on the agenda and spoke about business planning. Larry Snell, executive director of KCARD at the time, accepted their invitation to come and visit the farm. “I remember Larry standing in this loft soon after The Barn was built,” Carl shared, referring to the building that holds their restaurant, ice cream parlor and gift shop.
Carl and Debra both remember Larry asking a lot of good questions. “Things we had never considered: ‘What does it cost just to turn the lights on every day?’,” shared Debra. “Larry taught us to work smarter, not harder.”
Once they decided to focus on ice cream, Carl traveled to Penn State to learn how to make ice cream. “That was January of 2003 and in June we started building and in early October we opened.” Carl recalled.
KCARD has played a crucial role in many of the major decisions the Chaney’s have made over the years. “Before we make any decision that will have a big impact on the farm we consult our accountant, do our research, and talk to Brent,” shared Carl. Brent Lackey, Sr. Business Development Specialist, has been the Chaney’s point of contact with KCARD for 13 years. “Working with Brent and Aleta has allowed us to develop a very special friendship with them both,” continued Carl. “We are in the business of relationships, and we treasure the one we have with KCARD”.
The Chaney’s gave back through Debra’s service as a member of KCARD’s Board of Directors, joining in 2006 and serving for 8 years. KCARD’s governing board includes a mix of representatives from different agricultural organizations and from businesses with whom KCARD works so that the organization can be governed by people who understand Kentucky agriculture and who understand KCARD services.
“It was an honor to serve on the board of KCARD,” Debra shared. “The board always had great interaction between the members. We would share what we were going through, and other board members would do the same.”
Debra recalls being honored to serve with Larry Snell, former KCARD Executive Director, as well as Aleta Botts, the current Executive Director. She and Carl both remember a summit they attended with Aleta several years ago. “She actually drove us to an reception following a meeting, and we really were able to connect and share,” Debra recalls. They agree this is when the business relationship became a friendship.
Over the years, KCARD has provided a variety of services for Chaney's Dairy Barn, from evaluating their strengths and weaknesses to updating their business plan to helping them apply for and receive a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant in 2020.
Chaney’s continues to look for opportunities to expand their business offering “Ice Cream and a Movie” nights, self-guided farm tours, and a state-of-the-art playground. In June 2016, a robotic milker was added bringing more visitors to the farm. Debra mentioned that the new middle and high schools for Warren County opened in 2015, bringing subdivisions and businesses closer to the farm.
The latest change – processing and offering fluid milk – may be the biggest yet. The Chaney family always dreamed of bottling its milk and using its milk in its ice cream. In 2019, Carl and Debra’s daughter Elizabeth came back to the farm and decided to start processing milk from the Chaney Farm so it could be either sold as fluid milk or used to create ice cream mix for the Dairy Barn to use in its 28,000 gallons of ice cream that it sells each year. She created JR Bottling Company, named after her grandfather. Chaney’s contracts with JR Bottling Company to process its fluid milk. Chaney’s sells its bottled milk at the Dairy Barn and to various retail stores in south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee, including Houchens, and later this year Kroger will start carrying Chaney’s milk.
Carl and Debra Chaney have grown and loved every minute of their journey. A journey that would not have been as smooth or profitable without the partnership and friendship of KCARD staff.
“We take every chance we get we share our story and encourage others to reach out to KCARD. The agriculture community is built on relationships, and we want all our partners or anyone we worked with to have the success we have so we recommend they reach out to KCARD.” – Carl and Debra Chaney